{"id":3159,"date":"2018-10-01T02:00:00","date_gmt":"2018-10-01T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bibliatodo.com\/En\/christian-news\/?p=3159"},"modified":"2018-10-01T08:12:18","modified_gmt":"2018-10-01T06:12:18","slug":"blasphemous-this-controversial-tv-advertisement-mocks-jesus-to-promote-organ-donation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bibliatodo.com\/En\/christian-news\/blasphemous-this-controversial-tv-advertisement-mocks-jesus-to-promote-organ-donation\/","title":{"rendered":"Blasphemous! This controversial tv advertisement mocks Jesus to promote organ donation"},"content":{"rendered":"

Australian television has decided not to broadcast a commercial where \u201cJesus Crucified\u201d appears and agrees to donate his organs after receiving a proposal from the Roman soldiers who were with him on the cross.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Blasphemous! This controversial tv advertisement mocks Jesus to promote organ donation<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The two-and-a-half minute advert shows two armed guards asking Jesus if he would like to donate his organs after being nailed to the cross before his death.<\/p>\n

The advert is the lead-in to a documentary called Dying to Live, which sheds light on the lack of organ donor registrations in Australia.<\/p>\n

After\u00a0one of the guards asks Jesus about being an organ donor, the other guard responds:\u00a0\u00a0\u2018We get it. No one wants to talk about death.\u2019 \u2018But your organs could save the lives of up to six people.\u2019 \u2018Obviously I would do it. I am Jesus,\u2019 the actor responds.\u00a0The two guards then tell Jesus he could go online to sign the organ donor registry.\u00a0\u00a0One the guards then sticks a smartphone onto his spear and reaches up to Jesus\u2019 hand to tap in his registration.\u00a0 The ad ends with a statement which says: \u2018Do what Jesus would do\u2019.<\/p>\n

The desperate need to encourage organ donor registrations is what led director Richard Bullock to shoot an advertisement about Jesus.<\/p>\n

Social media users were also divided over the advert, with some questioning whether it would be okay to use the Islamic prophet Muhammad in a similar advert.<\/p>\n

\"Social<\/p>\n

\u201cCreating controversy is always good for marketing, but blasphemously mocking the beliefs of people who would otherwise support your cause is a stupid strategy,\u201d a man named Laurence (@AusPlatypus)\u00a0wrote\u00a0on Dying to Life\u2019s Twitter feed. \u201cWe\u2019ll turn the other cheek. But I\u2019ll give you one tip \u2013 don\u2019t make an ad featuring Mohammed, that might not end well.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another person, Rob (@RK7487),\u00a0wrote, \u201cI support organ donation. I don\u2019t [support] mocking life and sacrifice as a means to bring awareness. Where is your honour?\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the charity which supports\u00a0transplant\u00a0recipients and their families, Transplant Australia, expressed its disappointment with the ad.<\/p>\n

Transplant Australia CEO, Chris Thomas, confirmed that Transplant Australia, the national community voice for organ and tissue donation and transplantation, was not involved in the\u00a0\u2018What would Jesus Do?\u2019\u00a0advertisement prepared alongside a new documentary titled\u00a0\u2018Dying to Live\u2019\u00a0which has been released nationally this month.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cWhy then mock and ridicule the religion and faith of at least 52 per cent of the Australian population who, according to the 2016 Census identified as Christians, in an attempt to promote organ donation?<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cAnd it is this very group of Australians who traditionally have been the greatest supporters of organ donation. Why undermine this support with this advertisement of Jesus being crucified? If the answer is to get people talking then unfortunately the campaign might achieve that \u2013 but for all the wrong reasons.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n